Disk player

ABSTRACT

A disk player includes a selecting mechanism, a switching control mechanism a transporting roller-actuating mechanism, and a pickup feeding mechanism. In the disk player, an idler plate pivots in response to a direction of rotation of a worm wheel that always meshes with a worm provided on a shaft of a loading motor. Three idler gears that always mesh with the worm wheel are provided on the idler plate. The idler plate couples a switching idler gear to the switching control mechanism at a disk mounting position, couples a transporting roller-actuating idler gear to the transporting roller-actuating mechanism, and couples a pickup feeding idler gear to the pickup feeding mechanism at a pickup feed position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a disk player, and more particularly,to a disk player which can achieve simplification of a configuration foractuating a pickup feeding mechanism for moving an optical pickup thatreads optical disk signals in a radial direction of a disk, andsimplification of a configuration for detecting a state of the overallmechanism in the disk player.

2. Description of the Related Art

Disk players, such as CD players, of the type for reading optical disksignals basically include three mechanisms: a disk rotating mechanismfor rotationally driving a turntable, thereby rotating a disk carried bythe turntable, a disk mounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto theturntable of a disk drive section, and a pickup feeding mechanism formoving the optical pickup in a radial direction of the disk.

Hitherto, these three mechanisms have been individually actuated bythree motors that are separately provided thereon. That is, since animmediate response and a high-speed rotation are essential, the diskrotating mechanism is directly actuated by a disk rotating mechanismmotor that is direct-coupled to the turntable.

Because of sequential operation of the disk in the horizontal andvertical directions with respect to the surface of the turntable, thedisk mounting mechanism generally includes a transporting roller forhorizontally transporting the disk onto the turntable, a clamper memberfor chucking the disk on the turntable, and a shift plate for switchingthe transporting roller and the damper member. The shift plate islinearly actuated by a disk mounting mechanism motor so as to switch thetransporting roller and the clamper member, and to rotate thetransporting roller.

Since a high degree of accuracy is essential, the pickup feedingmechanism is configured so that the optical pickup is precisely linearlymoved by a lead screw that is directly engaged with the optical pickup,and the lead screw is adapted to be rotationally actuated by a pickupfeeding mechanism motor that is arranged in the vicinity thereof.

On the other hand, in order to smoothly perform switching of actuationof the mechanisms and switching of modes between a control circuit and asignal processing circuit with a proper timing,, a plurality ofdetection elements, such as detection sensors and detection switches,are used in the disk player. More specifically, there are provided adisc detection element for detecting insertion of the disk, a chuckingcompletion detection element for detecting the completion of chucking ofthe disk mounting mechanism, and an inner periphery detection elementfor detecting the optical pickup located at an inner peripheralposition. In addition, signals from these detection elements are used asstarting/stopping commands for switching the actuation of themechanisms.

For example, the signal obtained by the disk detection element is usedas a start command for the disk mounting mechanism motor when insertingthe disk, and a stop command for the disk mounting mechanism motorduring a disk ejecting operation. The signal obtained by the chuckingcompletion detection element is used as a start command for the pickupfeeding mechanism motor during a shift from a disk loading operation toa disk playback operation, and a stop command for the disk mountingmechanism motor. The signal obtained by the inner periphery detectionelement is used as a start signal for the disk rotating mechanism motorat the start of the disk playback operation, a stop signal for the diskrotating mechanism motor, and a start command for the disk mountingmechanism motor during a shift from the disk playback operation to thedisk ejecting operation.

The inner peripheral position to be detected by the inner peripherydetection element is the position where TOC (Table of Contents)information, which is administrative information recorded in the innerperipheral area (read-in area) of an information recording area in thedisk, is readable. That is, in the disk playback operation performed bythe optical pickup, the TOC information is first read at the innerperipheral position and then, the disk playback operation is started onthe basis of the TOC information. The inner periphery detection elementis provided to detect the optical pickup located at such an innerperipheral position.

In the above conventional disk player, a large number of motors anddetection elements are included, thereby complicating the configurationthereof.

That is, as described above, three motors are required for theconfiguration such that motors are individually used for the diskrotating mechanism, the disk mounting mechanism, and the pickup feedingmechanism. The use of the three motors increases the number ofcomponents including motor supporting members and drivingforce-transmitting members to complicate the configuration, andmoreover, occupies a large space to restrict an arrangement and a designof peripheral members, thereby causing the overall mechanism to beincreased in size and complicated. In addition, the number of wires isalso increased because of individual power supply and control of thethree motors. Furthermore, with respect to cost, the motors occupy aconsiderably large proportion of the entire mechanism, so that the useof the three motors is an obstacle in achieving cost reduction.

On the other hand, since the three mechanisms are actuated by individualmotors, at least three detection elements of the disk detection element,the chucking completion detection element and the inner peripherydetection element are required for switching the actuation of themechanisms. The use of the three detection elements increases the numberof wires for the detection elements. In addition, although the detectionelements occupy a small space in the mechanism as compared with themotors, the increased number thereof restricts an arrangement and adesign of peripheral members, thereby causing the overall mechanism tobe complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a diskplayer which can achieve an increase in the versatility of thearrangement and design of the members, a reduction in size andsimplification of the overall mechanism, and a reduction in cost byreducing the number of motors, detection elements, and associatedmembers including wires.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provideda disk player, including a disk rotating mechanism for rotationallydriving a turntable, thereby rotating a disk carried by the turntable, adisk mounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto the turntable of adisk drive section, and a pickup feeding mechanism for moving an opticalpickup reading optical signals in a radial direction of the disk,wherein the disk player includes a selecting mechanism for transmittinga driving force from a single driving source selectively to the diskmounting mechanism and the pickup feeding mechanism.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, theselecting mechanism may preferably have a selecting member which movesbetween a disk mounting position to transmit the driving force to thedisk mounting mechanism and a pickup feed position to transmit thedriving force to the pickup feeding mechanism. The disk mountingmechanism may preferably have a disk mounting lock means which locks theselecting member to the disk mounting position during a disk mountingoperation. In addition, the pickup feeding mechanism may preferably havea pickup feeding lock means which locks the selecting member at thepickup feed position during a pickup feeding operation.

In accordance with the described arrangements, the selecting member islocked at the disk mounting position by the disk mounting lock meansduring the disk loading and ejecting operations, whereby the diskmounting mechanism can be reliably kept coupled to the driving side. Inaddition, the selecting member is locked at the pickup feed position bythe pickup feeding lock means during the disk playback operation and thereturn operation of the optical pickup, whereby the pickup feedingmechanism can be reliably kept coupled to the driving side.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, the diskmounting lock means may preferably be provided on a part of an operatingmember constituting the disk mounting mechanism, and adapted to releasethe lock of the selecting member when the operating member reaches anoperating completion position.

In accordance with the described arrangement, the selecting member islocked at the disk mounting position by the operating memberconstituting the disk mounting mechanism during the disk loading andejecting operations, whereby the disk mounting mechanism can be reliablykept coupled to the driving side. In addition, the lock of the selectingmember is released upon completion of the operation of the operatingmember, whereby the disk mounting mechanism can be separated from thedriving side, and the selecting member can be moved to the pickup feedposition.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, the diskmounting lock means may preferably be provided on a part of a switchingmember for switching the chucking of the disk on the turntable, andadapted to release the lock of the selecting member when the switchingmember reaches a chucking completion position.

In accordance with the described arrangement, the selecting member islocked at the disk mounting position by the switching member during thedisk loading and ejecting operations, whereby the disk mountingmechanism can be reliably kept coupled to the driving side. In addition,the lock of the selecting member is released upon completion of chuckingby the switching member, whereby the disk mounting mechanism can beseparated from the driving side, and the selecting member can be movedto the pickup feed position.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, the opticalpickup may preferably be adapted to locate at the innermost peripheralposition that is further inside of an inner peripheral position on theinner periphery side of an information recording area of a disk whereoptical disk signals are readable during the operation of the diskmounting mechanism. In addition, the optical pickup may preferably beadapted to hold the pickup feeding lock means on a lock release sidewhen located at the innermost peripheral position. Further, the opticalpickup may preferably be adapted to release the pickup feeding lockmeans so as to lock the selecting member at the pickup feed position bythe pickup feeding lock means when located at the inner peripheralposition and on the outside of the inner peripheral position.

In accordance with the described arrangements, the selecting member islocked at the pickup feed position by the pickup feeding lock meansduring the disk playback operation and the return operation of theoptical pickup, whereby the pickup feeding mechanism can be reliablykept coupled to the driving side. In addition, the lock of the selectingmember is released when the optical pickup reaches the inside of theinner peripheral position during its return operation, whereby thepickup feeding mechanism can be separated from the driving side, and theselecting member can be moved to the disk mounting position.

The disk player of the present invention may preferably further includea detection element which is adapted to detect the optical pickuplocated at the inner peripheral position on the inner periphery side ofan information recording area of a disk where optical disk signals arereadable, and is adapted to detect the completion of chucking of thedisk on the turntable with the operation of the optical pickup.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, the opticalpickup may preferably be adapted to locate at the innermost peripheralposition that is further inside of the inner peripheral position duringthe operation of the disk mounting mechanism. In addition, the detectionelement may preferably be adapted to detect the completion of chuckingof the disk when the optical pickup moves from the innermost peripheralposition towards the outside to reach the outer position of the innerperipheral position after the completion of operation of the diskmounting mechanism, and may preferably be adapted to detect the opticalpickup located at the inner peripheral position when the optical pickupmoves towards the inside of the disk to reach the inner peripheralposition.

In accordance with the described arrangements, during the shift from thedisk loading operation to the disk playback operation, the opticalpickup is moved to a position slightly outside of the inner peripheralposition to detect the inner periphery of the optical pickup and then,the optical pickup is returned to the inner peripheral position again,thereby detecting the inner periphery of the optical pickup. Therefore,both the completion of chucking and the inner periphery of the opticalpickup can be reliably detected only by adding a reciprocating operationin a short distance near the peripheral position to the optical pickupwhen the optical pickup moves to the outside.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, theselecting mechanism may preferably have a selecting member which movesbetween a disk mounting position to transmit the driving force to thedisk mounting mechanism and a pickup feed position to transmit thedriving force to the pickup feeding mechanism. The disk mountingmechanism may preferably have a disk mounting lock means for locking theselecting member at the disk mounting position during a disk mountingoperation. The pickup feeding mechanism may preferably have a pickupfeeding lock means for locking the selecting member at the pickup feedposition during a pickup feeding operation. In addition, the opticalpickup may preferably be adapted to hold the pickup feeding lock meanson a lock release side when located at the innermost peripheralposition, and may be adapted to release the pickup feeding lock means soas to lock the selecting member to the pickup feed position by thepickup feeding lock means when located on the inner peripheral positionand on the outside of the inner peripheral position.

In accordance with the described arrangements, the selecting member islocked at the disk mounting position by the disk mounting lock meansduring the disk loading and ejecting operations, whereby the drivingside can be reliably kept coupled to the disk mounting mechanism. Inaddition, the selecting member is locked at the pickup feed position bythe pickup feeding lock means during the disk playback operation and thereturn operation of the optical pickup, whereby the driving side can bereliably kept coupled to the pickup feeding mechanism. Further, thepickup feeding mechanism can be reliably separated from the driving sidewith the operation of the optical pickup at the completion of the diskplayback operation. On the other hand, after the optical pickup hasreached the inner peripheral position after the completion of the diskloading operation, the driving side can be reliably kept coupled to thepickup feeding mechanism by the pickup feeding lock means, so that thepickup feeding mechanism is not inconveniently separated from thedriving side even if the optical pickup is returned to the innerperipheral position for the detection of the inner periphery of theoptical pickup. Therefore, the optical pickup can be reliably moved tothe outside following the detection of the inner periphery of theoptical pickup, whereby the disk playback operation can be smoothlystarted.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, thedetection element may preferably be a detection switch. The detectionswitch is arranged so as to be pressed by the optical pickup when theoptical pickup is located within the range of the innermost peripheralposition to the inner peripheral position, and separated from theoptical pickup when the optical pickup moves to the outside from theinner peripheral position.

In accordance with the described arrangement, the operating position ofthe optical pickup can be mechanically reliably detected by thedetection switch.

In the disk player of the present invention, the pickup feedingmechanism may preferably have a lead screw which is engaged with one endof the optical pickup to linearly actuate the optical pickup, and thedetection element may be arranged on the opposite side of the lead screwwith respect to the optical pickup.

In accordance with the described arrangement, the detection element isprovided around the optical pickup, particularly in an area having arelatively wide open space that is opposite to the lead screw.Therefore, the disk player offers the advantages of increasedversatility of the arrangement of the detection element and of havinglittle effect on the arrangement and design of other members.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, theselecting mechanism may preferably include the following driving gear,idler plate, and idler gear. The driving gear is adapted always to becoupled to the single driving source, and rotated by the driving forcefrom the driving source. This an idler plate is provided as theselecting member to be pivoted between the disk mounting position andthe pickup feed position by a friction generated between the idler plateand the driving gear in response to the direction of rotation of thedriving gear. In addition, the idler gear is provided on one end of theidler plate so as to be always coupled to the driving gear, rotated withrespect to the driving gear in response to the pivot of the idler plate,coupled to the disk mounting mechanism when the idler plate is locatedon the disk mounting position, and coupled to the pickup feedingmechanism when the idler plate is located on the pickup feed position.

In accordance with the described arrangements, the position of the idlerplate:is switched by a simple configuration using the driving gear,idler plate, and idler gear, whereby either of the disk mountingmechanism and the pickup mounting mechanism can be reliably coupled tothe driving source.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, the idlergear may include the following disk mounting idler gear and pickupfeeding idler gear. The disk mounting idler gear is coupled to the diskmounting mechanism when the idler plate is located on the disk mountingposition. The pickup feeding idler gear is separately provided from thedisk mounting idler gear so as to be coupled to the pickup feeding gearwhen the idler plate is located on the pickup feed position.

In accordance with the described arrangements, individual idler gearscan be arranged at convenient positions for the disk mounting mechanismand the pickup feeding mechanism, so that the versatility of the designcan be increased.

In the disk player in accordance with the present invention, the diskmounting mechanism may preferably include the following switchingcontrol mechanism and transporting roller-actuating mechanism. Theswitching control mechanism switches a damper member which chucks thedisk on the turntable between a chucking side and a release side, andswitches a transporting roller for horizontally transporting the diskonto the turntable between a disk abutting side and a release side. Thetransforming roller-actuating mechanism rotationally actuates thetransporting roller. On the other hand, the idler gear may preferablyinclude a switching idler gear, a transporting roller-actuating idlergear, and a pickup feeding idler gear. The switching idler gear isadapted to be coupled to the switching control mechanism when the idlerplate is located on the disk mounting position. The transportingroller-actuating idler gear is provided separately from the switchingidler gear so as to be coupled to the transporting roller-actuatingmechanism when the idler plate is located on the disk mounting position.In addition, the pickup feeding idler gear is provided separately fromthe switching idler gear and the transporting roller-actuating idlergear so as to be coupled to the pickup feeding gear when the idler gearis located on the pickup feeding position.

In accordance with the described arrangements, individual idler gearscan be arranged at convenient positions for the switching controlmechanism, the transporting roller-actuating mechanism, and the pickupfeeding mechanism, so that the versatility of the design can beincreased.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a plan view, and FIG. 1B is a side view each showing aninitial state of a disk player in accordance with a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2A is a plan view, and FIG. 2B is a side view each showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which arack plate meshes with a pinion from the initial state in FIGS. 1A and1B to start an operation of a shift plate;

FIG. 3A is a plan view, and FIG. 3B is a side view each showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which theshift plate advances from the state shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B to start arelease operation of a transporting roller;

FIG. 4A is a plan view, and FIG. 4B is a side view each, showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which theshift plate advances from the state shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B to start arelease operation of a floating lock;

FIG. 5A is a plan view, and FIG. 5B is a side view each showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which theshift plate advances from the state shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B to start achucking operation;

FIG. 6A is a plan view, and FIG. 6B is a side view each showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which theshift plate reaches a forefront position from the state shown in FIGS.5A and 5B to complete the chucking operation;

FIG. 7A is a plan view, and FIG. 7B is a side view each showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which anidler plate pivots to a pickup feed position from the state shown inFIGS. 6A and 6B to perform switching of actuation;

FIG. 8A is a plan view, and FIG. 8B is a side view each showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which anoptical pickup moves from the state shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B to reach aninner peripheral position;

FIG. 9A is a plan view, and FIG. 9B is a side view each showing a stateof the disk player in accordance with the first embodiment in which adisk is played back from the state shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B and then theoptical pickup reaches the outermost peripheral position;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a disk player in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present invention, particularly showing a state of astate detection mechanism utilizing the operation of the optical pickup;

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state of the disk player in accordancewith the second embodiment in which the optical pickup reaches the innerperipheral position;

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a state of the disk player in accordancewith the second embodiment in which the optical pickup reaches the outerposition of the inner peripheral position;

FIG. 13 illustrates a disk player in accordance with a third embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 14 illustrates a disk player in accordance with a fourth embodimentof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments to which the present invention is applied will nowbe specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

[Configuration]

FIG. 1A is a front view and FIG. 1B is a side view each showing aninitial state of a disk player in accordance with a first embodiment ofthe present invention. For simplicity of the drawings, only main membersare shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, in a disk player in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, a selecting mechanism 1 is providedin order to transmit a driving force of a loading motor (driving source)10 selectively to a switching control mechanism 2, a transportingroller-actuating mechanism 3, and a pickup feeding mechanism 4. Sinceboth the switching control mechanism 2 and the transportingroller-actuating mechanism 3 are configured so as to individuallyreceive the driving force from the selecting mechanism 1, they will bedescribed as separate mechanisms for reasons of convenience, althoughthey are components of a disk mounting mechanism. A base plate 5supports these mechanisms 1 to 4, and a loading motor 10.

The mechanisms configured on the base plate 5 are supported in afloating state on a chassis (not shown) during a disk playback, and arefixed in place on the chassis by a damper lock plate 6 and floating lockplates 7 and 8 provided on a base plate 5 in the initial state shown inFIG. 1A. The base plate 5 is shown by a two-dot chain line in thedrawing in order to be distinguished from other members, and is suitablyomitted for simplicity of the drawing. A disk drive motor 9 isdirect-coupled to a turntable to rotate the disk. Detailedconfigurations of the mechanisms including the selecting mechanism 1will now be described.

[Selecting Mechanism]

As shown in FIG. 1A, a worm wheel (driving gear) 12 is arranged in thevicinity of the loading motor 10 to always mesh with a worm 11 that isprovided on a shaft of the loading motor 10. The worm wheel 12 includesintegrated large and small gears, and always meshes with the worm 11 viaa large-diameter gear thereof. An idler plate (selecting member) 14 thatis pivotable about a shaft 13 of the worm wheel 12 is provided at aposition overlapping the worm wheel 12 so that certain friction isexerted between the idler plate 14 and the worm wheel 12.

The idler plate 14 is formed by a substantially square sectionoverlapping the worm wheel 12 and a protruded section extended from thesubstantially square section. The idler plate 14 is fitted to the shaft13 at one corner of the substantially square section, and idler gears 15to 17 are fitted to the other three corners for transmitting the drivingforce to the switching control mechanism 2, the transportingroller-actuating mechanism 3, and the pickup feeding mechanism 4,respectively. Each of the idler gears 15 to 17 always mesh with the wormwheel 12, so that it is turned with respect to the worm wheel 12 inresponse to the pivot of the idler plate 14, and is coupled to thecorresponding mechanism.

That is, the idler gear 14 pivots between a disk mounting position toconnect the switching idler gear 15 to the switching control mechanism 2and to connect the transporting roller-actuating idler gear 16 to thetransporting roller-actuating mechanism 3, as shown in FIG. 1A, and apickup feed position to connect the idler gear 17 to the pickup feedingmechanism 4, as shown in FIG. 7A. A position-controlling pin 14 a isattached to a terminal end of the protruded section of the idler plate14.

[Switching Control Mechanism]

As shown in FIG. 1A, the switching control mechanism 2 includes aswitching gear 21 capable of meshing with the idler gear 15 of theselecting mechanism 1. A horizontal rotational driving force of theswitching gear 21 is converted into a vertical rotational driving forcevia a driving force conversion mechanism 22 consisting of a plurality ofgears including intersecting gears so as to be transmitted to a pinion23 that is integrally formed with one of the intersecting gears. Thepinion 23 is adapted to linearly actuate a shift plate (switchingmember) 25 via a rack plate 24.

The rack plate 24 is arranged so as to overlap the shift plate 25, andboth plates 24 and 25 can be moved in relation to each other by a guidestructure that is formed by a pair of guide slots 24 a and a pair ofpins 25 a in combination. The rack plate 24 is biased to the sideoverlapping the shift plate 25 by a spring 24 b provided between therack plate 24 and the shift plate 25. The rack plate 24 has atrigger-engaging portion 24 c. That is, in the initial state, the rackplate 24 is not meshed with the pinion 23, as shown in FIG. 1B, and thetrigger-engaging portion 24 c thereof is pressed by a trigger uponcompletion of horizontal transportation of the disk, whereby the rackplate 24 is moved leftward in the drawing to mesh with the pinion 23.

[Control Arrangement by the Shift Plate]

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a first cam slot 25 b for switching atransporting roller member 30, a second cam slot 25 c for switching adamper member 26 via the damper lock plate 6, and a lock slot 25 d (diskmounting lock means) for controlling the position of the idler plate 14are formed in the shift plate 25.

The damper member 26 is the member for chucking the disk on theturntable. The damper 26 is provided so that they can vertically pivotaround a shaft 26 a, and is biased downward (to the chucking side) by aspring (not shown). In addition, the damper plate 6 is the member forfixing the base plate 5 in place on the chassis, as described above, andfor locking the damper member 26 at the upper chucking release position.The damper lock plate 6 is provided so that it can pivot around a shaft6 a, and is biased to the release side by a spring (not shown), and apin 6 b for controlling the position of the clamper member 26 is mountedon a part of the damper lock plate 6.

Further, the transporting roller member 30 is the member for rotating aroller to perform loading and ejecting operations of the disk, isprovided so that it can pivot around a shaft 30 a, and is biased upward(to the disk abutting side) by a spring (not shown). A pin 30 b forcontrolling the position of the transporting roller member 30 is mountedon a part of the transporting roller member 30.

Control arrangements of the transporting roller member 30, the dampermember 26 and the idler plate 14 by the shift plate 25 will now bedescribed individually.

First, the pin 30 b of the transporting roller member 30 is insertedinto the first cam slot 25 b. In the initial state shown in FIG. 1B, theshift plate 25 holds the transporting roller member 30 at the upper diskabutting position. With an advance operation (operation to the left inthe drawing) from the initial state, the shift plate 25 allows thetransporting roller member 30 to be pivoted to the release side. Duringan operation shown in FIG. 4B, the shift plate 25 moves the transportingroller member 30 to the final release position and then, holds thetransporting roller member 30 at the final release position.

Further, the shift plate 25 is coupled to a sub-shift plate 28 opposedto the base plate 5 via a link mechanism 27 including a plurality oflinks so as to move in the same direction in synchronism therewith. Acam slot (not shown) similar to the first cam slot 25 b is formed in thesub-shift plate 28, and a similar pin provided on the other end of thetransporting roller member 30 is inserted therein. Both ends of thetransporting roller member 30 are supported by the sub-shift plate 28and the shift plate 25, and the transporting roller member 30 is pivotedto the release side by the advance operation from the initial positionso that the transporting roller member 30 is finally held at the releaseposition.

The pin 6 b of the clamper lock plate 6 is inserted into the second camslot 25 c of the shift plate 25. In the initial state shown in FIG. 1A,the shift plate 6 is adapted to hold the damper lock plate 6 at theinitial pivot position (floating lock position), and to bring the damperlock plate 6 into abutment with the lower surface of the damper member26 so as to lock the damper member 26 at the upper chucking releaseposition, as shown in FIG. 1B. In addition, in the latter of the advanceoperation shown in FIG. 5A, the shift plate 25 starts the pivot of thedamper lock plate 6 to release the floating lock. Thereafter, at thechucking completion position shown in FIG. 6A, the shift plate 25 isadapted to move the damper lock plate 6 to a pivot position on thechucking side, and to release the damper member 26 from the damper lockplate 6, as shown in FIG. 6B so that the damper lock plate 6 is moved tothe lower chucking position by a biasing force of a spring (not shown).

On the other hand, the pin 14 a of the idler plate 14 is inserted intothe lock slot 25 d of the shift plate 25. The shift plate 25 is adaptedto lock the idler plate 14 at the disk mounting position during a shiftfrom the initial position shown in FIG. 1A to the disk mountingcompletion position shown in FIG. 6A and then, to release the idlerplate 14.

In the initial position shown in FIG. 1A, the shift plate 25 is adaptedto hold the damper lock plate 6 at the floating lock position by meansof the second cam slot 25 c, and the floating lock plates 7 and 8 in thefloating lock position via the link mechanism 27, as described above.The floating lock plates 7 and 8 are pivotally provided around shafts 7a and 8 a so as to be pivoted between the floating lock position shownin FIG. 1A and the release position shown in FIG. 6A. On the other hand,two pairs of position control sections 27 a to 27 d are mounted to thelink mechanism 27 for individually controlling the positions of thefloating lock plate 7 and 8 by being brought into abutment with edges ofthe floating lock plates 7 and 8.

That is, in the initial position shown in FIG. 1A, the shift plate 25 isadapted to hold the lock plates 6 to 8 in a floating lock state, and tostart the pivot of the floating lock plates 7 and 8 by the positioncontrol sections 27 a and 27 c during the advance operation shown inFIG. 4A so as to release the floating lock on one side of the base plate5. Further, in the latter of the advance operation shown in FIG. 5A, theshift plate 25 is adapted to start the pivot of the damper lock plate 6so as to release the floating lock on the other side of the base plate5.

[Transporting Roller-actuating Mechanism]

In this embodiment, a driving force system for inserting and ejectingthe disk in the horizontal direction by pivoting the transfer rollermember 30 arranged on the side of a disc insertion opening of the diskplayer (the left-hand side of the drawing) is provided as thetransporting roller-actuating mechanism 3 separated from a driving forcesystem of the switching control mechanism 2.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the transporting roller-actuating mechanism 3includes a transporting roller-actuating gear 31 capable of meshing withthe idler gear 16 of the selecting mechanism 1. A horizontal rotationaldriving force of the transporting roller-actuating gear 31 is convertedinto a vertical rotational driving force via a driving force conversionmechanism 32 including intersecting gear and shaft so as to betransmitted to a gear 33 that is integrally formed with a shaft. Asshown in FIG. 1B, a coupling gear 34 that always meshes with the gear 33is provided above the gear 33, and the coupling gear 34 can mesh with atransporting gear 30 c of the transporting roller member 30.

The transporting gear 30 c is provided coaxially with a transportingroller (not shown) so as to be integrally operated with the transportingroller. The transporting gear 30 c is adapted to mesh with the couplinggear 34 when the transporting roller member 30 is located on a diskabutting position, as shown in FIG. 1B. In addition, the transportinggear 30 c is adapted to be rotated by the driving force of the loadingmotor 10 that is transmitted via the coupling gear 34 so as to rotatethe transporting roller (not shown) to the loading side (in a clockwisedirection in the drawing) or to the ejecting side (in a counterclockwisedirection in the drawing).

[Pickup Feeding Mechanism]

As shown in FIG. 1A, the pickup feeding mechanism 4 for moving anoptical pickup 40 in a radial direction of the disk includes a pickupfeeding gear 41 capable of meshing with the idler gear 17 of theselecting mechanism 1. A horizontal rotational driving force of thepickup feeding gear 41 is converted into an orthogonal rotationaldriving force via a driving force conversion mechanism 42 includingintersecting helical gears so as to be transmitted to a lead screw 43.

The optical pickup 40 is directly engaged with the lead screw 43 at itsone end so as to be linearly actuated in the axial direction of the leadscrew 43 by the rotation of the lead screw 43. In addition, the otherend of the optical pickup 40 is slidably supported by a slide guide 44.The optical pickup 40 is actuated within the range of the innermostperipheral position shown in FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, and 7A to theoutermost peripheral position shown in FIG. 9A via the inner peripheralposition shown in FIG. 8A.

The inner peripheral position is the position set so that the opticalpickup 40 always firstly starts reading in the disk playback operation,and the position where the TOC information, which is administrativeinformation recorded in the inner peripheral area (read-in area) of aninformation recording area in the disk, can be read by a pickup lens 40a. The innermost position is the position located further inside of theinner peripheral position where the optical disk signals are unreadable.

Further, the pickup feeding mechanism 4 is provided with an idler lockplate (pickup feeding lock means) 45 that is engaged with the pin 14 aof the idler plate 14 to lock the idler plate 14 at a pickup feedposition. The idler lock plate 45 is provided movably in parallel withthe optical pickup 40. The idler lock plate 45 is configured so as to bebiased to the lock side by a spring 46 and engaged with a part of theoptical pickup 40.

The idler lock plate 45 is adapted to be engaged with the optical pickup40 when the optical pickup 40 is located at the innermost peripheralposition shown in FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, and 7A. When the opticalpickup 40 moves from the innermost peripheral position to the innerperipheral position shown in FIG. 8A, the idler lock plate 45 is adaptedto be disengaged from the optical pickup 40, moved to the lock side by abiasing force of the spring 46, and engaged with the pin 14 a of theidler plate 14 so as to lock the idler plate 14 at the pickup feedposition.

[Operation]

In the disk player of this embodiment having the configuration asdescribed above, both the disk mounting mechanism including theswitching control mechanism 2 and the transporting roller-actuatingmechanism 3, and the pickup feeding mechanism 4 can be actuated by theselecting mechanism 1 of the present invention with the driving force ofthe single loading motor 10. The initial state, a series of operationsfrom the disk loading operation to the disk playback operation, and thedisk ejecting operation will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1to 9.

[Initial State]

In the initial state, as shown in FIG. 1A, since the idler lock plate 45is held at the release position by the optical pickup 40 located at theinnermost peripheral position and the pin 14 a of the idler plate 14 islocated at the lock section of the lock slot 25 d of the shift plate 25,the idler plate 14 is locked at the disk mounting position. As a result,the idler gear 15 meshes with the switching gear 21, and the idler gear16 meshes with the transporting roller-actuating gear 31.

In this case, the transporting roller member 30 is located at the upperdisk abutting position by means of the first cam slot 25 b of the shiftplate 25, and the transporting gear 30 c meshes with the coupling gear34, so that the transporting gear 30 c is coupled to the transportingroller-actuating gear 31. On the other hand, in the switching controlmechanism 2, the rack plate 24 is not meshed with the pinion 23, so thatthe shift plate 25 is separated from the switching gear 21.

Further, since the shift plate 25 is located at the initial position,the clamper lock plate 6, and the floating lock plates 7 and 8 are heldat the floating lock position. Since the clamper lock plate 6 is held atthe floating lock position, the clamper member 26 is also locked at theupper chucking release position.

[Disk Loading and Playback Operations]

1) Horizontal Transportation of the Disk

In the initial state as described above, when the disk is inserted fromthe side of the disk insertion opening of the disk player (the left-handside of the drawing), the loading motor 10 is started by a loading motorstart command made by the disk detection elements. By the driving forceof the loading motor 10, the worm wheel 12 is rotated in acounterclockwise direction, the transporting roller-actuating gear 31 isrotated in a counterclockwise direction via the clockwise rotation ofthe idler gear 16, and the transporting gear 30 c being coupled to thetransporting roller-actuating gear 31 is rotated in a clockwisedirection. As a result, the transporting roller (not shown) integrallyoperated with the transporting gear 30 c is rotated to the loading side(in a clockwise direction in the drawing) to horizontally transport theinserted disk onto the turntable. The driving force of the loading motor10 is also transmitted to the switching gear 21 via the idler gear 15 ofthe selecting mechanism 1, so that the pinion 23 that is always coupledto the switching gear 21 is rotated during the horizontal transportationof the disk.

2) Start of the Shift Plate; Release of the Transporting Roller

When the disk is transported onto the turntable by the operation of thetransporting roller-actuating mechanism 3, the rack plate 24 is movedleftward in the drawing to be meshed with the pinion 23 by a trigger ofoperating members related to the positioning upon completion of thehorizontal transportation of the disk. At this time, the pinion 23 isrotated in the counterclockwise direction by the driving force of theloading motor 10, so that the rack plate 24 starts to advance leftwardin the drawing. In this case, the rack plate 24 advances by a movingdistance in relation to the shift plate 25 that is defined by the guideslot 24 a and the pin 25 a, and engages with the shift plate 25 (seeFIGS. 2A and 2B).

Thereafter, the rack plate 24 and the shift plate 25 integrally advance,and the pin 30 b of the transporting roller member 30 is presseddownward by a cam section of the first cam slot 25 b of the shift plate25, so that the transporting roller member 30 starts downward pivotingto the release side (see FIGS. 3A and 3B). The idler plate 14 isreliably locked at the disk mounting position because the pin 14 a movesin a lock section of the lock slot 25 d during the operation of theshift plate 25.

3) Release of the Floating Lock; Start of Chucking

When the shift plate 25 advances from the state shown in FIGS. 3A and 3Bto reach substantially a midpoint of the operating stroke, the pin 30 bof the transporting roller member 30 reaches a switching point of thecam section and a relief section in the first cam slot 25 b, so that thetransporting roller member 30 reaches the final release position.Thereafter, since the pin 30 b horizontally moves within the reliefsection of the first cam slot 25 b, the transporting roller member 30 isheld at the final release position. At the time when the transportingroller member 30 reaches the final release position, the floating lockplates 7 and 8 are pressed by position control sections 27 a, 27 c ofthe link mechanism 27 to start pivoting, so that the floating lock ofone side of the base plate 5 is released. On the other hand, the clamperlock plate 6 is still held at the floating lock position, and the dampermember 26 is locked at the upper chucking release position.

When the shift plate 25 further advances from the state shown in FIGS.4A and 4B to enter the latter operation, the pin 6 b of the damper lockplate 6 is pressed by the second cam slot 25 c of the shift plate 25 andthe clamper lock plate 6 starts pivoting, as shown in FIG. 5A, so thatthe floating lock of the base plate 5 is completely released.Simultaneously, the damper lock plate 6 moves along a bottom inclinedsurface of the clamper member 26 with the pivot of the clamper lockplate 6, so that the clamper member 26 starts pivoting downward to thechucking side by a biasing force of a spring.

4) Completion of Chucking

When the shift plate 25 further advances from the state shown in FIGS.5A and 5B to reach the forefront position, the damper lock plate 6reaches the final release position, as shown in FIG. 6A to completelyrelease the damper member 26, as shown in FIG. 6B, so that the dampermember 26 reaches the lower chucking position to chuck the disk on theturntable. At this point in time, since the pin 14 a of the idler plate14 reaches a switching point of a lock section and a relief section inthe lock slot 25 d of the shift plate 25, the idler plate 14 can bepivoted towards the pickup feed position.

5) Switching of Actuation

With the counterclockwise rotation of the worm wheel 12 after the shiftplate 25 has reached the forefront position, the idler plate 14 ispivoted in the counterclockwise direction by a friction between the wormwheel 12 and the idler plate 14, and the pin 14 a moves within therelief section of the lock slot 25 d. With the pivot of the idler plate14, the idler gear 15 is separated from the switching gear 21, and theidler gear 16 is separated from the transporting roller-actuating gear31. When the idler plate 14 reaches the pickup feed position, the idlergear 17 meshes with the pickup feeding gear 41 of the pickup feedingmechanism 4, as shown in FIG. 7A.

6) Start of the Optical Pickup

As a result of the switching of actuation, with the counterclockwiserotation of the worm wheel 12 by the driving force of the loading motor10, the idler gear 17 is rotated in the clockwise direction, and thepickup feeding gear 41 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. Thelead screw 43 is rotated by the rotation of the pickup feeding gear 41to move outwards the optical pickup 40 from the innermost peripheralposition shown in FIG. 7A.

7) Playback of the Disk

When the optical pickup 40 that has started to move from the innermostperipheral position reaches the inner peripheral position shown in FIG.8A, the disk drive motor 9 is started by an actuation command made bythe inner peripheral detection element to start rotation of the disk. Atthis time, the optical pickup 40 reads the TOC information recorded inthe read-in area of the signal recording area of the disk.

In addition, the idler lock plate 45 is released from the optical pickup40 by the movement of the optical pickup 40 to the inner peripheralposition, is moved to the lock side by the biasing force of the spring46, and is engaged with the pin 14 a of the idler plate 14 to lock theidler lock plate 14 at the pickup feed position. Therefore, when theoptical pickup 40 is located at the inner peripheral position or at theouter position of the inner peripheral position, the idler plate 14 isreliably locked at the pickup feed position by the idler lock plate 45.

Thus, the rotation of the disk and the movement of the optical pickup 40enable the disk playback corresponding to the amount of signals producedduring the movement of the optical pickup 40 from the inner peripheralposition shown in FIG. 8A to the outermost peripheral position shown inFIG. 9A.

[Return Operation of the Optical Pickup and Disk Ejecting Operation]

The return operation of the optical pickup and the subsequent diskejecting operation after the disk playback are performed by thefollowing reverse operations 8) to 14) to the above disk loading andplayback operations 1) to 7) except that the disk drive motor 9 is notstarted.

8) Start of the Return Operation of the Optical Pickup

When the loading motor 10 is reversed by an ejecting command based onthe ejecting operation upon completion of the disk playback, the wormwheel 12 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the pickup feeding gear41 of the pickup feeding mechanism 4 is rotated in the clockwisedirection by the driving force of the loading motor 10. Thus, the leadscrew 43 is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction duringthe disk loading, and the optical pickup 40 starts moving inward at highspeed from the outer peripheral position.

9) Completion of the Return Operation of the Optical Pickup

When the optical pickup 40 that has started to move at high speedreaches the inner peripheral position shown in FIG. 8A, release of theidler plate 14 from the idler lock plate 45 is started. During themovement to the innermost peripheral position shown in FIG. 7A, theoptical pickup 40 moves the idler lock plate 45 to the release positionin engagement therewith, so that the idler plate 14 is released from theidler lock plate 45.

10) Switching of Actuation

With the clockwise rotation of the worm wheel 12 after the opticalpickup 40 has reached the innermost peripheral position as describedabove, the idler plate 14 is pivoted in the clockwise direction by thefriction between the worm wheel 12 and the idler plate 14, and the pin14 a moves within the relief section of the lock slot 25 d of the shiftplate 25. With the pivot of the idler plate 14, the idler gear 17 isseparated from the pickup feeding gear 41. When the idler plate 14reaches the disk mounting position, the idler gear 15 meshes with theswitching gear 21, and the idler gear 16 meshes with the transportingroller-actuating gear 31, as shown in FIG. 6A.

11) Release Chucking

As a result of the switching of the actuation as described above, withthe clockwise rotation of the worm wheel 12 by the driving force of theloading motor 10, the pinion 23 is rotated, and the rack plate 24 andthe shift plate 25 integrally start retraction. With the retraction ofthe shift plate 25, the damper lock plate 6 starts pivoting to the lockside, as shown in FIG. 5A, and the damper member 26 starts pivotingtowards the upper chucking release position, as shown in FIG. 5B.

At this point in time, since the pin 14 a is located within the locksection of the lock slot 25 d, as shown in FIG. 5A, the idler plate 14is held at the disk mounting position over the subsequent retractingaction of the shift plate 25. Incidentally, at this point in time, thetransporting roller member 30 is located on the lower release positionand the transporting gear 30 c is separated from the transportingroller-actuating gear 31, so that the transporting roller is notrotated.

12) Completion of Release of Floating Lock and Chucking

When the shift plate 25 further retracts from the state shown in FIGS.5A and 5B to reach substantially a midpoint of the operating stroke, thedamper lock plate 6 reaches the floating lock position and the dampermember 26 reaches the upper release position, as shown in FIG. 4A. Atthis point in time, the floating lock plates 7 and 8 also start pivotingtowards the floating lock side by the position control sections 27 a and27 c of the link mechanism 27. In addition, at this point in time, thepin 30 b of the transporting roller member 30 reaches the switchingpoint of the cam section and the relief section in the first cam slot 25b, as shown in FIG. 4B, so that the transporting roller member 30 can bepivoted by the further retraction of the shift plate 25.

When the shift plate 25 further retracts from the state shown in FIGS.4A and 4B to return near the initial position, the floating lock plates7 and 8 reach the floating lock positions, as shown in FIG. 3A. As aresult, the mechanisms constructed on the base plate 5 are fixed to thechassis in place. In addition, at this point in time, the transportingroller member 30 starts pivoting upwards because it is biased to thedisk abutting side by the spring (not shown), and the transporting gear30 c meshes with the coupling gear 34. As a result, the transportingroller integrally operated with the transporting gear 30 c startsrotating to the ejecting side (in the counterclockwise direction in thedrawing). Since the transporting roller has not yet abutted against thedisk at this point in time, however, the disk is not transported.

13) Stop of the Shift Plate and Abutment of the Transporting Roller

When the shift plate 25 returns to the initial position, as shown inFIG. 2A, the transporting roller member 30 reaches the upper diskabutting position, as shown in FIG. 2B to bring about a disktransportable state. Even after the shift plate 25 has reached theinitial position, the rack plate 24 meshed with the pinion 23 retractsby a fixed stroke with respect to the shift plate 25 to return to theinitial position where it is separated from the pinion 23, as shown inFIG. 1A.

14) Horizontal Transportation of the Disk

As shown in FIG. 2B, after the transporting roller member 20 has reachedthe upper disk abutting position, the disk is horizontally transportedfrom the turntable to the disk insertion opening by the rotation of thetransporting roller to the ejecting side (in the counterclockwisedirection in the drawing), and reaches a position where it can be takenout from the outside. At this point in time, the loading motor 10 isstopped by a loading motor stop command made by the disk detectionelements.

[Effects]

As described above, in accordance with this embodiment, both the diskmounting mechanism including the switching control mechanism 2 and thetransporting roller-actuating mechanism 3, and the pickup feedingmechanism 4 can be actuated by the selecting mechanism 1 in accordancewith the present invention with the driving force of the single loadingmotor 10. Therefore, one motor can be reliably reduced as compared withthe conventional art in which the disk mounting mechanism and the pickupfeeding mechanism have been actuated by individual motors. That is, onlythe use of the disk drive motor 9 and the loading motor 10 can be usedto actuate the overall mechanism.

In addition, the use of individual idler gears 15 to 17 for theswitching control mechanism 2, the transporting roller-actuatingmechanism 3 and the pickup feeding mechanism 4 allows arrangement ofthese idler gears 15 to 17 at convenient positions for the mechanisms,respectively. Therefore, the versatility of the design can beadvantageously improved as compared with a case where a single idlergear is connected to the respective mechanisms. In this regard, theselecting mechanism 1 is simply composed of the worm 11, the worm wheel12, the idler plate 14, and the three idler gears 15 to 17.

As described above, in accordance with this embodiment, the number ofcomponents including the supporting members of the motors and thedriving force transmission members can be reduced to simplify theconfiguration, and the amount of space occupied by the components can bereduced. In addition, the versatility of the arrangement and design ofthe members around the motors including the selecting mechanism can beincreased, and the number of wires for power supply and control relatedto the motors can be reduced. Therefore, a reduction in size andsimplification of the overall mechanism can be achieved, and the costcan be reduced by that of one motor, thereby providing an economicaladvantage.

On the other hand, during the disk loading and ejecting operations, theidler plate 14 is locked at the disk mounting position by the shiftplate 25, whereby the switching control mechanism. 2 and thetransporting roller-actuating mechanism 3 can be reliably kept coupledto the loading motor 10. In addition, during the disk playback operationand the optical pickup return operation, the idler plate 14 is locked atthe pickup feed position by the idler lock plate 45, whereby the pickupfeeding mechanism can be reliably kept coupled to the loading motor 10.

Therefore, the idler plate 14 can be prevented from wrong operationduring the operations, so that the disk player has advantageousoperative reliability. In this case, the shift plate 25 is used as thedisk mounting lock means, so that the number of components can bereduced and the configuration can be simplified, as compared with a casewhere a special-purpose lock member is provided.

Further, the lock of the idler plate 14 can be reliably released whenthe shift plate 25 reaches the chucking completion position, so that theactuation can be reliably switched from the switching control mechanism2 and the transporting roller-actuating mechanism 3 to the pickupfeeding mechanism 4. In addition, the idler lock plate 45 can bemechanically reliably moved to the release side by the optical pickup 40so as to release the lock of the idler plate 14 when the optical pickup40 returns to the initial state, so that the actuation can be reliablyswitched from the pickup feeding mechanism 4 to the switching controlmechanism 2 and the transporting roller-actuating mechanism 3.

Therefore, the disk loading operation can be reliably shifted to theoptical pickup feeding operation, and the return operation of theoptical pickup can be reliably shifted to the disk ejecting operation,so that the disk player has advantageous operative reliability also inregard to this point.

Second Embodiment

[Configuration]

FIG. 10 illustrates a disk player in accordance with the secondembodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 10 is a planview showing the initial state of a state detection mechanism utilizingthe operation of the optical pickup. Since the disk player of thisembodiment has a configuration similar to that of the disk player of thefirst embodiment including the state detection mechanism, only thepoints which are different from the first embodiment will now bedescribed.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is shown a read-in area 50 of the diskarranged on the turntable. A detection switch (detection element) 51 isprovided for detecting both the inner periphery of the optical pickup 40and the completion of chucking in response to the operation of theoptical pickup 40 with respect to the read-in area 50. In addition, apresser section 40b for pressing the detection switch 51 is provided onone end of the optical pickup 40.

The arrangement is such that the detection switch 51 is pressed by thepresser section 40 b within the range in which the optical pickup 40moves from the innermost peripheral position shown in FIG. 10 to theinner peripheral position shown in FIG. 11 and that the detection switch51 is released from the presser section 40 b at the point in time whenthe optical pickup 40 moves to the outside of the inner peripheralposition shown in FIG. 11. The detection switch 51 and the pressersection 40 b are provided on the opposite side of a screw holder 40 cfor holding the lead screw 43.

[Operation]

In the disk player of this embodiment having the configuration asdescribed above, both the completion of chucking and the inner peripheryof the optical pickup can be detected by the single detection switch 51.These detecting operations will now be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 10, in the initial state, a center of a pickuplens 40 a of the optical pickup 40 is located at the innermostperipheral position, and the presser section 40 b presses the detectionswitch 51. In addition, at this time, the idler plate 14 is locked atthe disk mounting position by the lock slot 25 d of the shift plate 25shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, whereas the idler lock plate 45 is held at therelease position by being engaged with the optical pickup 40, and doesnot lock the idler plate 14.

During a period in which the disk is inserted from the initial position,the disk loading operation is performed by the idler gears 15 and 16provided on the idler plate 14, and the disk is chucked on theturntable, the optical pickup 40 is held at the innermost peripheralposition.

Thereafter, when the chucking of the disk on the turntable is completedand the idler plate 14 pivots in the counterclockwise direction to reachthe pickup feed position shown in FIG. 11, the movement of the opticalpickup 40 to the outside (rightward in the drawing) is started by theidler gear 17. At the time when the center of the pickup lens 40 a movesto the inner peripheral position overlapping the read-in area of thedisk, the idler lock plate 45 is, released from the optical pickup 40 tobe engaged with the pin 14 a of the idler plate 14 by a biasing force ofa spring 46, and locks the idler plate 14 at the pickup feed position.

Although the optical pickup 40 presses the detection switch 51 by meansof the presser section 40 b, as shown in FIG. 11 on the inner peripheralposition, the optical pickup 40 is separated from the detection switch51 at the time when it moves further outside. That is, as shown in FIG.12, at the point in time when the center of the pickup lens 40 a movesfurther outside from the read-in area of the disk, the presser section40 b is separated from the detection switch 51 to release the detectionswitch 51. The completion of chucking is detected by signals emittedfrom the detection switch 51 by this operation.

Then, in response to the detection of the completion of chucking, theoperating direction of the optical pickup 40 is reversed to move theoptical pickup 40 from the outer position of the inner peripheralposition shown in FIG. 12 to the inner peripheral position shown in FIG.11. As a result, the detection switch 51 once released is pressed againby the presser section 40 b of the optical pickup 40. The innerperiphery of the optical pickup 40 is detected by signals emitted fromthe detection switch 51 by this operation.

Further, in response to the detection of the inner periphery of theoptical pickup 40, the disk drive motor 9 is started to rotate the disk,thereby reading the TOC signals recorded in the read-in area by theoptical pickup 40. At this point in time, the idler plate 14 is lockedat the pickup feed position by the idler lock plate 45, so that adriving force transmission system of the optical pickup 40 ismaintained. After reading the TOC signals, the disk playback operationis performed by the rotation of the disk and the movement of the opticalpickup 40.

On the other hand, during the disk ejecting operation, the detectionswitch 51 that has been in a release state is pressed by the pressersection 40 b at the time when the optical pickup 40 reaches the innerperipheral position, whereby the inner periphery of the optical pickup40 is detected. The optical pickup 40 moves inward by a predetermineddistance from the inner peripheral position, and stops when it reachesthe innermost peripheral position shown in FIG. 10.

[Effects]

As described above, in accordance with this embodiment, both thecompletion of chucking and the inner periphery of the optical pickup canbe detected by the single detection switch 51 with the operation of theoptical pickup 40. This allows the number of detection elements to bereduced, as compared with the conventional art in which individualdetection elements are provided for detecting the inner periphery of theoptical pickup and the completion of chucking, respectively, so that thenumber of wires for the detection elements can be reduced and theperipheral members can easily be arranged and designed. Therefore, theconfiguration of the overall mechanism can be simplified. In addition,in this embodiment, the detection switch 51 is provided around theoptical pickup 40, particularly in an area having a relatively wide openspace that is opposite to the lead screw 43. Thus, the disk playeroffers the advantages of increased versatility of the arrangement of thedetection switch 51 and of having little effect on the arrangement anddesign of other members.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 13 illustrates a disk player in accordance with a third embodimentof the present invention in which the configuration of the driving forcetransmission system in the first embodiment is changed. For simplicityof the drawing, FIG. 13 shows only main members on the driving side.

As shown in FIG. 13, in the disk player of this embodiment, a selectingmechanism 60 is configured to transmit the driving force of the loadingmotor 10 selectively to a disk mounting mechanism 70 and the pickupfeeding mechanism 4. That is, in this embodiment, the driving forcetransmission systems separated for the switching control mechanisms 2and the transporting roller-actuating mechanism 3 in the firstembodiment are integrated into a single driving force transmissionsystem, i.e., the disk mounting mechanism 70, and the configuration ofthe selecting mechanism 60 is changed. Detailed configurations of theselecting mechanism 60 and the disk mounting mechanism 70 will now bedescribed.

First, in the selecting mechanism 60, an idler plate 64 is provided in aposition overlapping not a worm wheel that always meshes with the wormwheel provided on the shaft of the loading motor 10 but a driving gear62 that always meshes with the worm wheel 61 so as to pivot around ashaft 63 of the driving gear 62. The idler plate 64 is formed intosubstantially an inverted J-shape, is mounted to the shaft 63 at itsstraight-line side end, and has a single idler gear 65 mounted to thecenter thereof. The idler plate 64 is adapted to be rotated between adisk mounting position to couple the idler gear 65 to the disk mountingmechanism 70 and a pickup feed position to couple the idler gear 65 tothe pickup feeding mechanism 4. A position controlling pin 64 a ismounted to a curved section side end of the idler plate 64.

In addition, in the disk mounting mechanism 70, a disk mounting gear 71capable of meshing with the idler gear 65 is provided. A rotationaldriving force of the disk mounting gear 71 is transmitted to a rackplate 74 and a shift plate 75 via a first driving force conversionmechanism 72 and a pinion 73 so as to linearly actuate these plates 74and 75.

FIG. 13 only shows a state where the idler plate 64 is inserted into alock slot 75 a formed in the shift plate 75, and does not show anengagement with another member. Actually, however, cam slots that aresimilar to those of the first embodiment are formed so as to performswitching of the transporting roller member and the damper member inresponse to the position of the shift plate 75. On the other hand, therotational driving force of the disk mounting gear 71 is alsotransmitted to a gear 77 via a second driving force conversion mechanism76, and the gear 77 is adapted to provide a rotational driving force ofa transporting roller (not shown).

Further, in the pickup feeding mechanism 4, a pickup feeding gear 81 iscomposed of integrated large and small gears each having the diameterlarger than that of the pickup feeding gear 41 in the first embodiment.A horizontal rotational driving force of the pickup feeding gear 81 isconverted into an orthogonal rotational driving force via a drivingforce conversion mechanism 82 consisting of intersecting gears so as tobe transmitted to the lead screw 43.

[Operation and Effects]

In this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the disk mountingmechanism 70 and the pickup feeding mechanism 4 can be actuated by thedriving force of the single loading motor 10.

That is, during the disk loading and ejecting operations, the idlerplate 64 is locked at the disk mounting position by the shift plate 75,whereby the disk mounting mechanism 70 can be reliably actuated by thedriving force of the loading motor 10. During the disk playbackoperation and the return operation of the optical pickup, the idlerplate 64 is locked at the pickup feed position by the idler lock plate45, whereby the pickup feeding mechanism 4 can be reliably actuated bythe driving force of the loading motor 10.

In accordance with this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment,one motor can be reliably reduced as compared with the conventional artin which the disk mounting mechanism and the pickup feeding mechanismhave been actuated by individual motors, so that the number ofcomponents including supporting members and driving force-transmittingmembers can be reduced, the amount of space occupied by the componentscan be reduced, the versatility of the design can be increased, and thenumber of wires related to the motors can be reduced. Therefore, areduction in size and simplification of the overall mechanism can beachieved, and the cost can be reduced by that of one motor, therebyproviding an economical advantage.

In addition, similar to the first embodiment, the idler plate 64 islocked at a predetermined position during each of the operations,whereby the idler plate 64 can be prevented from wrong operation duringthe operations, so that the disk player has advantageous operativereliability. In this case, the shift plate 25 is used as the diskmounting lock means, so that the number of components can be reduced andthe configuration can be simplified, as compared with a case where aspecial-purpose lock member is provided. Further, the disk loadingoperation can be reliably shifted to the optical pickup feedingoperation, and return operation of the optical pickup can be reliablyshifted to the disk ejecting operation, so that the disk player hasadvantageous operative reliability also in regard to this point.

Fourth Embodiment

[Configuration]

FIG. 14 illustrates a disk player in accordance with a fourth embodimentof the present invention. In particular, FIG. 14 is a plan view showingthe initial state of a state detection mechanism utilizing the operationof the optical pickup. Since the disk player in this embodiment has abasic configuration similar to that of the disk player of the thirdembodiment, and a basic principle of operation of the state detectionmechanism is similar to that of the state detection mechanism of thesecond embodiment, only the points which are different from the firstembodiment will now be described.

In this embodiment, in contrast with the second embodiment, a detectionswitch 52 is provided on the side of the screw holder 40 c of theoptical pickup 40, as shown in FIG. 14, and the detection switch 52 isadapted to be pressed by a spring section 40 d that is projectinglyprovided on a part of the screw holder 40 c.

Similarly to the second embodiment, the arrangement is such that thedetection switch 52 is pressed by the spring section 40 d within therange in which the optical pickup 40 moves from the innermost peripheralposition to the inner peripheral position shown in FIG. 14, and that thedetection switch 52 is released from the spring section 40 d at thepoint in time when the optical pickup 40 moves to the outside from theinner peripheral position.

[Operation and Effects]

In this embodiment, similarly to the second embodiment, the detectionswitch 52 is pressed by the spring section 40 d of the optical pickup 40when the optical pickup 40 is located at the innermost peripheralposition. At the point when the optical pickup 40 moves from theinnermost peripheral position to the outer position of the innerperipheral position via the inner peripheral position, the detectionswitch 52 is released and the completion of chucking is detected. Whenthe optical pickup 40 is reversed to move to the inner peripheralposition in response to the detection of the completion of chucking, thedetection switch 52 once released is pressed again by the spring section40 d, so that the inner periphery of the optical pickup is detected.

In accordance with this embodiment, similarly to the second embodiment,both the completion of chucking and the inner periphery of the opticalpickup can be detected by the single detection switch 52. Therefore, thenumber of detection elements can be reduced as compared with theconventional art in which individual detection elements are provided,the number of wires for the detection elements can be reduced, and theperipheral members can easily be arranged and designed, so that theconfiguration of the overall mechanism can be simplified.

Modifications

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above,and various modifications may be made within the scope of the presentinvention.

For example, the specific configuration of the selecting mechanismincluding the number and the arrangement of the idler gears, and theconfiguration of the driving force transmission system for the selectingmechanism, the disk mounting mechanism and the pickup feeding mechanismmay suitably be selected. In addition, the specific configuration of thelock means for locking the idler plate, and the specific configurationof the state detection mechanism including the detection elements maysuitably be selected. Further, the specific configurations of the diskmounting mechanism and the pickup feeding mechanism may suitably beselected.

Still further, the present invention is applicable to various types ofdisk players adapted for one or several types of optical disks selectedfrom optical disks including the CD, MD, LD, and DVD, and in any case,advantageous effects as described above are achieved.

As described above, in accordance with the present invention, the diskmounting mechanism and the pickup feeding mechanism are selectivelyactuated by the single driving source, thereby reducing the number ofdriving sources. In addition, both the completion of chucking and theinner periphery of the optical pickup can be detected by the singledetection element, thereby reducing the number of detection elements.Therefore, a disk player which can achieve an increase in theversatility of the arrangement and design of the members, a reduction insize and simplification of the overall mechanism, and a reduction incost by reducing the number of motors, detection elements, andassociated members including wires can be provided.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disk player, comprising: a disk rotatingmechanism for rotationally driving a turntable, thereby rotating a diskcarried by the turntable; a disk mounting mechanism for mounting thedisk onto the turntable of a disk drive section; a disk mounting lockunit; a pickup feeding mechanism for moving an optical pickup readingoptical signals in a radial direction of the disk; a pickup feeding lockunit; a single driving source; and a selecting mechanism fortransmitting a driving force from the single driving source selectivelyto the disk mounting mechanism and the pickup feeding mechanism wherebythe selecting mechanism is locked at a disk mounting position by thedisk mounting lock unit during disk loading and ejection and is lockedat a pickup feed position by the pickup feeding lock unit, wherein theselecting mechanism includes an idler plate that is pivotably mounted tocontact the pickup feeding lock unit and a first idler gear that isoperatively positioned to transmit a driving force to the disk mountingmechanism when locked by the disk mounting lock unit.
 2. The disk playeraccording to claim 1 further including a switch plate that isoperatively connected to the idler plate and the disk mounting lockunit.
 3. The disk player according to claim 1 wherein the idler platesupports a second idler gear that is operatively positioned to transmitthe driving force to the pickup feeding mechanism when locked by thepickup feeding lock unit.
 4. A disk player, comprising: a disk rotatingmechanism for rotationally driving a turntable, thereby rotating a diskcarried by the turntable; a disk mounting mechanism for mounting thedisk onto the turntable of a disk drive section; and a pickup feedingmechanism for moving an optical pickup for reading optical signals in aradial direction of the disk, wherein said disk player includes aselecting mechanism for transmitting a driving force from a singledriving source selectively to said disk mounting mechanism and saidpickup feeding mechanism including a selecting member which movesbetween a disk mounting position to transmit the driving force to saiddisk mounting mechanism and a pickup feed position to transmit thedriving force to said pickup feeding mechanism, wherein said diskmounting mechanism has a disk mounting lock unit which locks saidselecting member at said disk mounting position during a disk mountingoperation, and wherein said pickup feeding mechanism has a pickupfeeding lock unit which locks said selecting member at said pickup feedposition during a pickup feeding operation, wherein said optical pickupis located at an innermost peripheral position on an inner peripheryside of an information recording area of the disk where optical disksignals are readable during the operation of said disk mountingmechanism, holds said pickup feeding lock unit on a lock release sidewhen located at said innermost peripheral position, and releases saidpickup feeding lock unit so as to lock said selecting member at thepickup feed position when located on said inner peripheral position. 5.A disk player, comprising: a disk rotating mechanism for rotationallydriving a turntable, thereby rotating a disk carried by the turntable; adisk mounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto the turntable of adisk drive section; a pickup feeding mechanism for moving an opticalpickup for reading optical signals in a radial direction of the disk;and a selecting mechanism for transmitting a driving force from a singledriving source selectively to the disk mounting mechanism and the pickupfeeding mechanism including a driving gear which is always coupled tothe single driving source to be rotated by the driving force from thedriving source; an idler plate which is pivotable between the diskmounting position and the pickup feed position by a friction generatedbetween the idler plate and the driving gear in response to thedirection of rotation of the driving gear; and an idler gear which isprovided on one end of the idler plate so as to be always coupled to thedriving gear, rotated with respect to the driving gear in response tothe pivoting of the idler plate, coupled to the disk mounting mechanismwhen the idler plate is located on the disk mounting position, andcoupled to the pickup feeding mechanism when the idler plate is locatedon the pickup feed position, wherein said idler gear includes: a diskmounting idler gear which is coupled to the disk mounting mechanism whenthe idler plate is located on the disk mounting position; and a pickupfeeding idler gear which is separately provided from the disk mountingidler gear so as to be coupled to the pickup feeding gear when the idlerplate is located on the pickup feed position.
 6. A disk player,comprising: a disk rotating mechanism for rotationally driving aturntable, thereby rotating a disk carried by the turntable; a diskmounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto the turntable of a diskdrive section; a pickup feeding mechanism for moving an optical pickupfor reading optical signals in a radial direction of the disk; and aselecting mechanism for transmitting a driving force from a singledriving source selectively to the disk mounting mechanism and the pickupfeeding mechanism including a driving gear which is always coupled tothe single driving source to be rotated by the driving force from thedriving source; an idler plate which is pivotable between the diskmounting position and the pickup feed position by a friction generatedbetween the idler plate and the driving gear in response to thedirection of rotation of the driving gear; and an idler gear which isprovided on one end of the idler plate so as to be always coupled to thedriving gear, rotated with respect to the driving gear in response tothe pivoting of the idler plate, coupled to the disk mounting mechanismwhen the idler plate is located on the disk mounting position, andcoupled to the pickup feeding mechanism when the idler plate is locatedon the pickup feed position, wherein the disk mounting mechanismincludes a switching control mechanism for switching a clamper memberwhich chucks the disk on the turntable between a chucking side and arelease side, and switching a transporting roller for horizontallytransporting the disk onto the turntable between a disk abutting sideand a release side, and a transforming roller-actuating mechanism forrotationally actuating the transporting roller, and wherein the idlergear includes: a switching idler gear which is coupled to the switchingcontrol mechanism when the idler plate is located on the disk mountingposition; a transporting roller-actuating idler gear which is providedseparately from the switching idler gear so as to be coupled to thetransporting roller-actuating mechanism when the idler plate is locatedon the disk mounting position; and a pickup feeding idler gear which isprovided separately from the switching idler gear and the transportingroller-actuating idler gear so as to be coupled to the pickup feedinggear when the idler gear is located on the pickup feeding position.
 7. Adisk player, comprising: a disk rotating mechanism for rotationallydriving a turntable, thereby rotating a disk carried by the turntable; adisk mounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto the turntable of thedisk drive section including a switching member for switching themounting of the disk on the turntable and a disk mounting lock unitconnected to the switching member; a pickup feeding mechanism for movingan optical pickup for reading optical signals in a radial direction ofthe disk including a pickup feeding lock unit; and a selecting mechanismfor transmitting a driving force from a driving source selectively tothe disk mounting mechanism and the pickup feeding mechanism wherein theselecting mechanism has a selecting member which moves between a diskmounting position to transmit the driving force to the disk mountingmechanism and a pickup feed position to transmit the driving force tothe pickup feeding mechanism, the disk mounting lock unit locks theselecting member at the disk mounting position during a disk mountingoperation, and the pickup feeding lock unit locks the selecting memberat a pickup feed position during a pickup feeding operation, wherein thedisk mounting lock unit releases the lock of the selecting member whenthe operating member reaches an operating completion position.
 8. A diskplayer, comprising: a disk rotating mechanism for rotationally driving aturntable, thereby rotating a disk carried by the turntable; a diskmounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto the turntable of a diskdrive section; and a pickup feeding mechanism for moving an opticalpickup for reading optical signals in a radial direction of the disk,wherein said disk player includes a selecting mechanism for transmittinga driving force from a single driving source selectively to said diskmounting mechanism and said pickup feeding mechanism including aselecting member which moves between a disk mounting position totransmit the driving force to said disk mounting mechanism and a pickupfeed position to transmit the driving force to said pickup feedingmechanism, wherein said disk mounting mechanism has a disk mounting lockunit which locks said selecting member at said disk mounting positionduring a disk mounting operation, and wherein said pickup feedingmechanism has a pickup feeding lock unit which locks said selectingmember at said pickup feed position during a pickup feeding operation,the disk mounting lock unit is provided on a part of a disk mountingmechanism including a switching member for switching a chucking of thedisk on the turntable, and is adapted to release the lock of theselecting member when the switching member reaches a chucking completionposition which provides an operating completion position.
 9. A diskplayer according to claim 8, wherein said optical pickup is adapted tolocate at the innermost peripheral position that is further inside of aninner peripheral position on the inner periphery side of an informationrecording area of a disk where optical disk signals are readable duringthe operation of said disk mounting mechanism, is adapted to hold saidpickup feeding lock unit on a lock release side when located at saidinnermost peripheral position, and is adapted to release said pickupfeeding lock unit so as to lock said selecting member at the pickup feedposition by said pickup feeding lock unit when located on said innerperipheral position and on the outside of said inner peripheralposition.
 10. A disk player, comprising: a disk rotating mechanism forrotationally driving a turntable, thereby rotating a disk carried by theturntable; a disk mounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto theturntable of a disk drive section; and a pickup feeding mechanism formoving an optical pickup for reading optical signals in a radialdirection of the disk, wherein said disk player includes a selectingmechanism for transmitting a driving force from a single driving sourceselectively to said disk mounting mechanism and said pickup feedingmechanism includes a selecting member which moves between a diskmounting position to transmit the driving force to said disk mountingmechanism and a pickup feed position to transmit the driving force tosaid pickup feeding mechanism, wherein said disk mounting mechanism hasa disk mounting lock unit which locks said selecting member at said diskmounting position during a disk mounting operation, and wherein saidpickup feeding mechanism has a pickup feeding lock unit which locks saidselecting member at said pickup feed position during a pickup feedingoperation, wherein said selecting member includes: a driving gear whichis always coupled to said single driving source to be rotated by thedriving force from said driving source; an idler plate which is providedas said selecting member to be pivoted between said disk mountingposition and said pickup feed position by a friction generated betweensaid idler plate and said driving gear in response to the direction ofrotation of said driving gear; and an idler gear which is provided onone end of said idler plate so as to be always coupled to said drivinggear, rotated with respect to said driving gear in response to the pivotof said idler plate, coupled to said disk mounting mechanism when saididler plate is located on said disk mounting position, and coupled tosaid pickup feeding mechanism when said idler plate is located on saidpickup feed position, wherein said idler gear includes: a disk mountingidler gear which is coupled to said disk mounting mechanism when saididler plate is located on said disk mounting position; and a pickupfeeding idler gear which is separately provided from said disk mountingidler gear so as to be coupled to said pickup feeding gear when saididler plate is located on said pickup feed position.
 11. A disk player,comprising: a disk rotating mechanism for rotationally driving aturntable, thereby rotating a disk carried by the turntable; a diskmounting mechanism for mounting the disk onto the turntable of a diskdrive section; and a pickup feeding mechanism for moving an opticalpickup for reading optical signals in a radial direction of the disk,wherein said disk player includes a selecting mechanism for transmittinga driving force from a single driving source selectively to said diskmounting mechanism and said pickup feeding mechanism including aselecting member which moves between a disk mounting position totransmit the driving force to said disk mounting mechanism and a pickupfeed position to transmit the driving force to said pickup feedingmechanism, wherein said disk mounting mechanism has a disk mounting lockunit which locks said selecting member at said disk mounting positionduring a disk mounting operation, and wherein said picking feedingmechanism has a pickup feeding lock unit which locks said selectingmember at said pickup feed position during a pickup feeding operation,wherein said selecting mechanism includes: a driving gear which isalways coupled to said single driving source to be rotated by thedriving force from said driving source; an idler plate which is providedas said selecting member to be pivoted between said disk mountingposition and said pickup feed position by a friction generated betweensaid idler plate and said driving gear in response to the direction ofrotation of said driving gear; and an idler gear which is provided onone end of said idler plate so as to be always coupled to said drivinggear, rotated with respect to said driving gear in response to the pivotof said idler plate, coupled to said disk mounting mechanism when saididler plate is located on said disk mounting position, and coupled tosaid pickup feeding mechanism when said idler plate is located on saidpickup feed position, and wherein said disk mounting mechanism includesa switching control mechanism for switching a damper member which chucksthe disk on said turntable between a chucking side and a release side,and switching a transporting roller for horizontally transporting thedisk onto said turntable between a disk abutting side and a releaseside, and a transforming roller-actuating mechanism for rotationallyactuating said transporting roller, and wherein said idler gearincludes: a switching idler gear which is coupled to said switchingcontrol mechanism when said idler plate is located on said disk mountingposition; a transporting roller-actuating idler gear which is providedseparately from said switching idler gear so as to be coupled to saidtransporting roller-actuating mechanism when said idler plate is locatedon said disk mounting position; and a pickup feeding idler gear which isprovided separately from said switching idler gear and said transportingroller-actuating idler gear so as to be coupled to said pickup feedinggear when said idler gear is located on said pickup feeding position.